


an act of faith against the night

by ozmissage



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Apocalypse, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-17
Updated: 2011-01-17
Packaged: 2017-10-18 00:23:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/182945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozmissage/pseuds/ozmissage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The world has gone to hell and for the lucky, for the living this is the end.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	an act of faith against the night

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the Richard Siken poem.

Stefan had hoped he would never live to see this day.

(He had hoped it would never come.)

The world has gone to hell and for the lucky, for the _living_ this is the end.

But Stefan is not alive, hasn’t been for decades, so he persists along with the other monsters, the other devils, he persists along with _her_.

Caroline takes his hand, knitting her fingers through his, a reminder that he is not alone. Not yet.

“We could go somewhere else,” she says. “I bet the beaches in Miami are totally empty now.”

Only Caroline could find a silver lining in the apocalypse.

Stefan stares at the sign, tipped over and cracked, letters faded--- _Welcome to Mystic Falls_.

“We’re where we need to be,” he says and Caroline tightens her grip on his hand.

*

It seems wrong for the town to be so empty. Mystic Falls was always teaming with life and death, with people loving, hating, fucking, killing. Stefan misses the chaos.

He watches Caroline closely, waiting for her to break. She never does. He forgets how much she’s changed. There are places she won’t go. The remnants of her house, the Lockwood estate, the school---they’re all off limits. But she makes the rest of the town their home.

They live in the mansion. Stefan can’t imagine living anywhere else. He turns every corner expecting to see ghosts, to hear voices he never thought he’d miss. He finds Caroline instead, sneaking up behind him, covering his eyes with her small hands. It’s not an unpleasant surprise.

*

“Do you want rabbit or Bambi?” she asks, two glasses of fresh blood clutched in her hands.

They could eat like animals now, there’s no one left to pretend for, but she still pours the blood of their kills into tumblers, still makes him sit down at the table like a man.

“Rabbit’s fine,” he says.

She wrinkles her nose and Stefan can’t stop himself from laughing.

“Now that I’ve called it Bambi, I’m kind of over this one,” she says.

Stefan leans forward and takes the glass of deer blood from her hand.

“So you’re okay with drinking Thumper then?” he teases.

“Shut up.”

She smiles brightly and that sight warms him faster than the blood ever could.

*

They lie face to face on a bed he’s shared with too many people before and stare at each other in the darkness. They’re quiet, both listening to the night, waiting for the sound of others. As usual, there’s nothing.

Even the vampires have left Mystic Falls to rot.

It’s just the two of them now. He doesn't mind.

“We don’t have to stay here,” Stefan whispers.

Caroline shifts closer until her head is tucked under his chin, her voice lost against his skin.

“I don’t mind. It’s nice…being home.”

*

They chase each other through the square, past The Grill and the offices with their shuttered windows and doors. They run and they forget for a moment to worry about the world beyond Mystic Falls, about all the people that will never come back.

He catches her and they fall to the ground, tangled together, laughing and free.


End file.
